The State Service for Antimonopoly and Consumer Market Control under the Ministry of Economy held a press conference on its activities in 2021. Chief of the State Service Mammad Abbasbeyli informed the media about the work done last year and the measures to be taken.

First, on the work done to create a fair competition environment, it was highlighted that the adoption of the Competition Code is the main goal to ensure the efficient and unimpeded operation of market participants, and work is underway in this direction. It was noted that 22 cases on violation of antitrust law were considered last year. Legitimate measures have been taken against market participants in fields of compulsory health insurance, delivery services, soft drinks, cement, dairy products, etc. in connection with cases of unfair competition and abuse of dominance. Speaking about the work carried out in the field of natural monopolies, the head of the Service said that in 2021, the appeals of consumers and entrepreneurs using the services of these entities were analyzed. Thus, concerning the issue with the installation of meters in apartment buildings at the expense of the consumer, a case was filed against “Azerishig” OJSC and “Azersu” OJSC, and instructions were given to install the meters at the expense of the supplier. In addition, the actions of natural monopolies such as "Azerbaijan Airlines" CJSC, "Azerigaz" OJSC and others were investigated in accordance with the law.

While reporting on the field of public procurement control, M.Abbasbeyli said that a new draft law "On Public Procurement" has been prepared in order to use public funds efficiently and economically, to increase transparency in the respective field. He noted that according to the amendments made to the legislation on public procurement last year, the quotation request procedure has become fully electronic, and the participation fee in e-procurement using open tenders or quotation inquiries has been reduced. It was noted that the share of micro, small and medium enterprises in public procurement has reached 95%, which is another positive development. At the same time, the work of the portal etender.gov.az has been improved over the past year, and a list of government agencies to be integrated into the portal has been identified.

Noting that 1086 out of 12,347 final protocols received by the State Service during the year revealed violations of the law, the head of the Service said that appropriate measures would be taken in the future to give a more serious legal assessment to such cases and to publicize them.

While notifying about the work done on quality infrastructure in 2021, it was reported that research was conducted to strengthen state control in this area, analyzation of legislation and identification of sectoral challenges, and necessary measures were taken to establish sustainable relations with international organizations.

Media representatives were informed that consumer awareness campaigns last year caused consumer activity. Consideration of 5177 appeals, resulted in return of 349,533 manats to consumers, and compensation of 43,188 manats. It was noted that the Service organizes regular trainings and conducts extensive awareness-raising activities to inform consumers and professional lawyers about consumer rights.

In the end, questions from the media were answered.